Smart-Grid Sensor Market To Worth $39 Billion by 2019

Posted on: 20 August 2014

By:Patrick Oliphant

A report by NanoMarkets is predicting world wide smart grid sensor market to almost double by 2021. NanoMarkets expects advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications to account for the vast majority of the market throughout the forecasting period to 2021. They are expecting the market value of the different sensors to fluctuate over the same period.

The smart grid infrastructure depends on sensors for: demand response, asset monitoring, building energy management and outage management to name a few. The real time collection of data by these sensors allows the grid to monitor and react to changes in the system.

The current value of the smart grid sensor market is estimated to worth US $26.4 billion, growing to $36.5 by 2019 and $46.8 by 2021, said NanoMarkets.

Highlights from the report:
Analyzing the markets for sensors in smart-grid applications, NanoMarkets see the following trends:

Smart metering will be a requisite for capturing consumer data, while on-grid distributed generation will gain traction (subject to policies and regulation). Increasing demand for grid safety and security is a primary concern for regulators and utilities.

Advanced sensor technologies will expand the addressable market base for smart grid sensors. Sensor makers will seek avenues to cross-sell their products into other industries such as water, gas, transportation, and telecom.

More from the report:

By sensor application, we expect advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications accounting for the vast majority of the market throughout the forecasting period: $17.8 billion in 2014, growing to $22.7 billion in 2021. This dominance should decrease towards the end of the forecast period, however, as smart meters reach the saturation point in many leading markets.

We see the biggest growth over our forecast period in sensors for demand response, surging from $1.7 billion today to $10.9 billion in 2021 to becoming the second-largest market for smart-grid sensors. We also see high growth rates in sensors for SCADA, lead management, energy storage, and renewable energy.

By sensor type, we see the best growth trajectory for energy conservation sensors through our forecast period ($521 million in 2014, $3.6 billion in 2021), followed by humidity and temperature sensors. Current sensors will account for the second-largest share in the overall market by 2021 ($4.3 billion), followed by oil moisture sensors ($3.8 billion) and energy conservation sensors.

Looking at regional markets for sensors in smart grids, we calculate North America accounting for 30% ($7.9 billion) of the worldwide market, followed by Europe ($6.6 billion, 25%), China ($5.2 billion, 20%), and Japan ($2.6 billion, 10%). However, we see the fastest adoption rate of smart grid technologies including sensors happening in China during our forecast period -- by 2021 we see China ($10.8 billion) overtaking Europe ($10.1 billion) for the second largest share of the sensor market behind the U.S. ($13.1 billion), with Japan well behind ($4.4 billion).